Because…

"Will you please share your lunch with me?" Ayumu looked at the blond-haired girl who was begging for food and nearly laughed. Scattered on the ground around her were the remains of three lunches, presumably stolen from other people.

"Don't you think you've had enough already?" He asked tiredly. She had promised yesterday not to steal his food today, which must have been the reason behind all the other stolen lunches. Apparently, though, those hadn't been enough.

The reply came quickly. "No, yours is the best! I tried to keep my promise, really, but nobody else's food is good enough anymore." Ayumu stared. She actually looked as though she might cry. Over something as silly as a lunch box!

The boy rolled over, trying to resume his nap and avoid seeing her face, but he couldn't hold back his rhetorical question. "Why would I want to give you my food anyway?"

The inflection in her voice told him she had changed from nearly crying to a bright smile as she exclaimed, "Because you love me, of course!" A fit of coughing exploded from the brown haired genius; her quick answer had caught him by surprise. He was glad to be facing away from her where she couldn't see the bright red blush covering his face. "Ayumu?" Hiyono asked worriedly, "Are you alright?"

"If I give you my lunch, will you leave me alone?" He managed to say between coughs.

He was surprised by her answer of "Sure, if that's what you want." Maybe her only target had been the food after all. Either way, it was still best if she left for a little bit.

"Then take it and go. Here!" He said, nearly throwing the obento at her as he continued to try to hide his embarrassment. The coughing and blush both started to settle down as he listened to her footsteps receding down the flight of stairs that led to this roof. Once she was gone, he tried to logically reason the event out with himself. Of course she didn't mean it for real, you dunce, she'd say anything for food! He told himself. Although, I wonder who else she stole from and how….

Kousuke knew Ryouko wouldn't be happy when he finally showed up empty-handed, but there was only so much he could do. Predictably enough, as soon as he got within range, he was greeted by the track star's shouting. "Where's my lunch, you jerk?" She asked loudly, kicking him in the shin, "I bet you ate it for yourself, didn't you?"

"Ow, no, I'm sorry. That Hiyono chick stole it from me! She took mine too." He countered while trying to dodge her attacks. "She blackmailed me!"

"Blackmail? What'd you do this time?" She demanded, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. She prepared a fist, and the redhead protested even louder.

"Nothing, honest! It's just-" He stopped himself just in time. Surrendering the lunches would be a useless sacrifice if he just blurted it out right now. He wasn't ready for her to know he loved her, not yet. "I'll go buy you some bread to make up for it!" He said quickly, running away although he knew she could catch him in an instant if she wanted.

Rio had watched Hiyono run off with her lunch without caring. After all, she wasn't planning to eat her lunch today. Not when she had something so much better . . . she pulled a large, green melon from her backpack, sighing blissfully. This delicious melon she had gotten from Eyes would more than make up for her missing lunch.

Authors Note: Rate and review please! This is one that's been bothering me for a long time, and now that'd I've finally typed it up, it turned out way different than I expected. I hope you like it anyway!